Spain in 1997

Area: 505,990 sq km (195,364 sq mi)

Population (1997 est.): 39,323,000

Capital: Madrid

Chief of state: King Juan Carlos I

Head of government: Prime Minister José María Aznar López

The Popular Party (PP) in 1997 demonstrated that it was adept at leading the coalition it had formed with the various nationalist parties. It was successful despite comments made by the parties during the March election campaign that reinforced the belief that poor relations between the centre-right parties and the centre-left Convergence and Union (Catalan) coalition would preclude any form of cooperation. The fact that the PP plurality in the 1996 election was small gave hope to the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) that it would not be out of power for long.

The PSOE continued to be adversely affected by its connection to the Antiterrorist Liberation Groups (GAL) investigation. GAL, a shadowy organization that carried out a number of extrajudicial killings in the 1980s, was perhaps the turning point in the PSOE electoral defeat. A judicial investigation into the Cesid (state intelligence agency) papers on the case dominated the PSOE’s retreat from government. Felipe González Márquez’s party leadership was brought into such question over the affair that he was weakened and the PSOE appeared directionless and in disrepute with the judiciary.

Despite GAL’s being very useful to the PP in its campaigning against the PSOE, there was pressure on the new government to release sensitive information regarding the case. This fueled further speculation about the role of the civil leadership in Spain. Whereas the scandal suited the PP in opposition, by the end of the year it was turning into an issue that both parties would prefer settled.

In November the benefits of Javier Solana’s 1995 appointment to the position of secretary-general of the NATO alliance appeared to reap dividends. These were realized by the promise of considerable progress in the incorporation of Spain into the Integrated Military Command of NATO. The national legislature overwhelmingly supported the PP’s position favouring incorporation, which thus seemed to resolve a problem that had dogged Spain’s defense planners since the 1980s. The final resolution of the issue, however, hinged upon the status of Gibraltar within NATO and, more significantly for the PP, the status of the Canary Islands. The latter existed within the Portuguese mandate of the Eastern Atlantic and were of concern to the Canarian coalition, a partner in the governing bloc.

Relations with Cuba suffered some deterioration in 1997 when the government inflamed Cuban and Spanish commercial interests by warning Spanish tourists away from the island. This appeared to be retaliation for the poor legal treatment of a Spanish tourist by the Cuban judiciary. An attempt to distance itself from the previous government’s position on Cuba raised a number of problems for the PP. Cuba represented one of Spain’s most lucrative opportunities for investment, and commercial interests were obviously wary of any interruption to the trade that appeared set to expand.

Latin America also emerged as a judicial question. After many unsuccessful years in the Chilean courts, Gen. Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, head of state of Chile from 1973 to 1990, was indicted in Spain on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity in connection with the deaths of Spanish nationals following the military coup of September 1973. The issue then shifted to Argentina and the behaviour of military officers there during the "dirty war" of the late 1970s, when thousands of citizens were killed, were imprisoned, or disappeared.

The Basque separatists group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) continued to strain the political process, and popular revulsion grew throughout the year against ETA and its political wing, Herri Batasuna. By March a large increase in murders by the organization had heightened tension within the Basque provinces and pressured the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) to support the government’s position of nonnegotiation. Following the July kidnapping and fatal wounding by Basque separatists of a young PP politician, Miguel Ángel Blanco, millions demonstrated in the streets as the parties united to condemn the fatal attack. Finally, on December 1, 23 members of the top leadership of Herri Batasuna were found guilty of aiding ETA and were each sentenced to seven years in prison.

After the PP’s first year in office, the goodwill between it and the major nationalist parties in the legislature, the Catalan and the PNV, appeared to have lost strength. Both parties had enjoyed leverage over the previous PSOE government, and the PNV in particular stepped back from colluding too closely with the government.

Perhaps the most significant domestic event of the year was the replacement of González as secretary-general of the PSOE. At the 34th congress of the party, he resigned after 23 years in the post. His replacement, Joaquín Almunia, represented continuity, however, as he was the favoured candidate of González.

The United Left group, led by Julio Anguita, finally succumbed to factionalism. The leadership of Anguita was called into question by the defection of the New Left and of groupings in Galicia and Catalonia. The third largest party in Spain and the inheritors of the communist tradition, the United Left suffered an identity crisis that was intensified by a weak electoral performance in 1996. Some observers considered it possible that the new leadership of the PSOE could move toward increased cooperation with the United Left.